Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States

Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 51Here, in 1856, was born a negro girl, Betty, to a slave mother. Here, today, under the friendly protection ofthis same Jones family, surrounded by her sons and her sons' sons, lives this same Betty in her own littleweather-stained cottage. Encircling her house are lilacs, althea, and flowering trees that soften the bleakoutlines of unpainted out-buildings. A varied collection of old-fashioned plants and flowers crowd the neatlyswept dooryard. A friendly German-shepherd puppy rouses from his nap on the sunny porch to greet visitorsenthusiastically. In answer to our knock a gentle voice calls, "Come in." The door opens directly into a small,low-ceilinged room almost filled by two double beds. These beds are conspicuously clean and covered byhomemade crocheted spreads. Wide bands of hand-made insertion ornament the stiffly starched pillow slips.Against the wall is a plain oak dresser. Although the day is warm, two-foot logs burn on the age-wornandirons of the wide brick fire place. From the shelf above dangles a leather bag of "spills" made from twistednewspapers.In a low, split-bottom chair, her rheumatic old feet resting on the warm brick hearth, sits Aunt Betty Cofer.Her frail body stoops under the weight of four-score years but her bright eyes and alert mind are those of awoman thirty years younger. A blue-checked mob cap covers her grizzled hair. Her tiny frame, clothed in amotley collection of undergarments, dress, and sweaters, is adorned by a clean white apron. Although a littleshy of her strange white visitors, her innate dignity, gentle courtesy, and complete self possession indicatelong association with "quality folks."Her speech shows a noticeable freedom from the usual heavy negro dialect and idiom of the deep south. "Yes,Ma'am, yes, Sir, come in. Pull a chair to the fire. You'll have to 'scuse me. I can't get around much, 'cause myfeet and legs bother me, but I got good eyes an' good ears an' all my own teeth. I aint never had a bad tooth inmy head. Yes'm, I'm 81, going on 82. Marster done wrote my age down in his book where he kep' the namesof all his colored folks. Muh (Mother) belonged to Dr. Jones but Pappy belonged to Marse Israel Lash overyonder. (Pointing northwest.) Younguns always went with their mammies so I belonged to the Joneses."Muh and Pappy could visit back and forth sometimes but they never lived together 'til after freedom. Yes'm,we was happy. We got plenty to eat. Marster and old Miss Julia (Dr. Jones' wife, matriarch of the wholeplantation) was mighty strict but they was good to us. Colored folks on some of the other plantations wasn't solucky. Some of' em had overseers, mean, cruel men. On one plantation the field hands had to hustle to git tothe end of the row at eleven o'clock dinner-time 'cause when the cooks brought their dinner they had to stopjust where they was and eat, an' the sun was mighty hot out in those fields. They only had ash cakes (cornpone baked in ashes) without salt, and molasses for their dinner, but we had beans an' grits an' salt an'sometimes meat."I was lucky. Miss Ella (daughter of the first Beverly Jones) was a little girl when I was borned and sheclaimed me. We played together an' grew up together. I waited on her an' most times slept on the floor in herroom. Muh was cook an' when I done got big enough I helped to set the table in the big dinin' room. Then I'dput on a clean white apron an' carry in the victuals an' stand behind Miss Ella's chair. She'd fix me a piece ofsomethin' from her plate an' hand it back over her shoulder to me (eloquent hands illustrate Miss Ella's makingof a sandwich.) I'd take it an' run outside to eat it. Then I'd wipe my mouth an' go back to stand behind MissElla again an' maybe get another snack."Yes'm, there was a crowd of hands on the plantation. I mind 'em all an' I can call most of their names. Mac,Curley, William, Sanford, Lewis, Henry, Ed, Sylvester, Hamp, an' Juke was the men folks. The women wasNellie, two Lucys, Martha, Nervie, Jane, Laura, Fannie, Lizzie, Cassie, Tensie, Lindy, an' Mary Jane. Thewomen mostly, worked in the house. There was always two washwomen, a cook, some hands to help her, twosewin' women, a house girl, an' some who did all the weavin' an' spinnin'. The men worked in the fields an'yard. One was stable boss an' looked after all the horses an' mules. We raised our own flax an' cotton an' wool,spun the thread, wove the cloth, made all the clothes. Yes'm, we made the mens' shirts an' pants an' coats. Onewoman knitted all the stockin's for the white folks an' colored folks too. I mind she had one finger all twistedan' stiff from holdin' her knittin' needles. We wove the cotton an' linen for sheets an' pillow-slips an' table